I made some small cakes for the chickens yesterday. I adapted the recipe from one I found online.My 3 week old chickens have been doing a bit of feather picking so I was trying to think of ways of keeping them busy. The cakes have been successful but I could probably have cooked them a bit longer.I will post the recipe if any one is interested.

'The chicken chick' has a recipe for a flock block but I didn't have many of the ingredients listed so I just made it up.1 cup chick crumbles, 2 cups rolled oats, polenta, ground rice and cous Cous from the pantry to make up another cup, 1/3 cup scratch (cracked),2 eggs, 1/4 cup of oil and 1-2cups of water to make a stiff but not dry mix.I pressed the mixture into a 12hole silicone muffin tray and made a small hole in the centre of each for hanging up.Bake in oven at 160 for 1 hour then leave in oven to dry out.Next time I will add fresh corn instead of the scratch mixture as it was really hard work to grind it.

Concept is good. I never find time to make muffins for ourselves let alone chooks or horses (or sheep or goat or alpacas).

But I did bust myself wheelbarrowing horse manure up from the paddock for the chook pens this morning. That has to count for something so I've given myself a brownie point (and a shower, and a coffee and a Woolworths quinoa muffin, decandence).

Actually, when I first read the subject of this post, I was thinking the opposite and wondering if it was in the wrong category.......

I was thinking 500 g minced chicken, 3 eggs, 1/4 cup of flour, 1 grated carrot, a finely chopped onion and herbs/spices to taste, mixed and formed into balls, then fried or baked (to be eaten by humans.) ....... Preferably topped with chilli sauce. I refrained from making the suggestion......

While compost is good fun for chooks, PC, I don't have enough at the moment, and not enough ruminant poop to garnish the well rounded chicken diet.... good thought though. Is it true horse dung is highly nutritious?

We got some slightly out of date milk powder and breadcrumbs from work. I made up the milk and soaked the breadcrumbs in it. Chooks loved it. A bit of parsley would not have gone astray

Not sure about nutrient value: they do get un-digested seed from it. And I don't ferment poultry feed, I know there is a great deal of pro-fermentation advice around, I think the line is too thin between healthy fermented and mouldy rotten to be bothered risking it. But manure is fermented in the horse's gut so it is a natural source. Main benefit is as a soil conditioner just as in a garden, it increases healthy micro organisms in soil and brings worms to the surface, so keeps chooks actively scratching with reward - mental enrichment. Worth finding from local horse owners, generally $2 a feed bag full, good value as deep litter.

I agree with PC I won't risk fermenting either.Horse manure is apparently a good source of probiotics - although I'm not sure why an otherwise healthy animal should need a probiotic boost (maybe after a course of antibiotics) I suspect it's just another fad.I came across an article which suggested that we may actually be risking the development of probiotic resistant bad bacteria if we overuse them.

Last edited by sue55 on Thu Jun 07, 2018 12:44 am, edited 1 time in total.

Tell us more details Healzam! This info is really important.....What, exactly did you give?

I believe a healthy gut flora is important for good over all ability to thrive. (meaning if we (all living things) are not properly balanced in gut flora), digestion does not work, so absorption of nutrients is lacking and health declines.) The problem I find with chickens is they can't tell us how they are feeling.

Last edited by Okaru on Wed Jun 06, 2018 9:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Can't find the article but the context was that the over use of probiotics was showing indications of bacteria developing resistance in the same way as antibiotic resistance developed.Went looking - maybe it was antibiotic resistance.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5437161/

Tell us more details Healzam! This info is really important.....What, exactly did you give?

I believe a healthy gut flora is important for good over all ability to thrive. (meaning if we (all living things) are not properly balanced in gut flora), digestion does not work, so absorption of nutrients is lacking and health declines.) The problem I find with chickens is they can't tell us how they are feeling.

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